Hydraulic rail lifter

ABSTRACT

A RAIL LIFTER COMPRISING A RIGID ELONGATED BEAM TO BE SUPPORTED AND MANIPULATED FROM A CRANE OR OTHER CONVENTIONAL MATERIAL LIFTING AND HANDLING DEVICE. A PAIR OF LATERALLY OPPOSED GRIPPERS ARE SUPPORTED AT ADJACENT OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE BEAM FOR ANGULAR MOVEMENT TO AND FROM OPERATIVE POSITIONS IN WHICH THEY PROJECT BENEATH THE BEAM IN SPACED RELATION BELOW IT TO THUS PROJECT BENEATH THE RAIL HEAD OF A RAIL TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE LATTER. THE GRIPPERS ARE ACTUATED THROUGH CRANK ARMS WHICH ARE LINKED TO THE PISTON RODS OF HYDRAULIC UNITS ARRANGED FOR EXTENSION AND RETRACTION MOVEMENT PARALLEL TO THE BEAM AND IN A MANNER TO PRODUCE THE DESIRED ANGULAR MOVEMENT OF THE SAID GRIPPERS. IN ORDER TO AVOID LONGITUDINAL SLIPPAGE OF THE RAIL THROUGH THE GRIPPERS, THE RAIL HEAD IS THRUST FIRMLY DOWNWARDLY AGAINST THE GRIPPERS PLUNGERS GUIDED FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT ON THE BEAM AND ACTUATED BY CAM MEANS CARRIED BY THE PLUNGER ROD AT LOCATIONS TO ENGAGE AND DEPRESS THE PLUNGERS ONLY AFTER THE GRIPPERS HAVE MOVED BENEATH THE RAIL HEAD.

Jan. 26K, 1971 G. E. TAYLOR 3,553,178

HYDRAULIC RAIL LIFTER Filed nec. 12, 196e 2 sheets-sheet 1 /A/VfA/me, 60E/swf. Hna/e ATTORNEYS Jan-26., 1971 G. E. TAYLOR 3,558,178

HYDRAULIC RAIL LIFTER Filed Dec. l2, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR, @5A/NE Erme ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,558,178 HYDRAULIC RAIL LIFTER Glenn E. Taylor, 1345 Bankhead Ave., Atlanta, Ga. 30318 Filed Dec. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 783,323 Int. Cl. B66c 1/00 U.S. Cl. 294-81 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rail lifter comprising a rigid elongated beam to be supported and manipulated from a crane or other conventional material lifting and handling device. A pair of laterally opposed grippers are supported at adjacent opposite ends of the beam for angular movement to and from operative positions in which they project beneath the beam in spaced relation below it to thus project beneath the rail head of a rail to provide support for the latter. The grippers are actuated through crank arms which are linked to the piston rods of hydraulic units arranged for extension and retraction movement parallel to the beam and in a manner to produce the desired angular movement of the said grippers. In order to avoid longitudinal slippage of the rail through the grippers, the rail head is thrust rmly downwardly against the grip` pers by plungers guided for vertical movement on the beam and actuated by cam means carried by the plunger rod at locations to engage and depress the plungers only after the grippers have moved beneath the rail head.

This invention relates to improvements in rail lifters, such as are particularly adapted for use in lifting and handling conventional railroad rails.

In order to adapt a crane or other material lifting and handling device for efficient handling of rails, it s desirable to employ a special rail grapple or lifting device, capable of providing firm support for the rail and also capable of reliably preventing longitudinal slippage of the rail in the event of undue tilting of the rail and gripping device. It is also desirable to provide such a device which is adapted to readily engage and disengage the rail and which preferably is subject to remote control, while at the same time being comparatively simple and economical in its construction and operation.

With these considerations in mind, the invention contemplates the provision of a rail lifter in which pairs of relatively opposed laterally movable grippers carried from a suitable support may be readily projected beneath and withdrawn from beneath the rail head of the rail Whereby to provide vertical support for the same, in combination with means brought into action after the grippers are projected beneath the rail head for then thrusting firmly downwardly on the rail head so as to vertically clamp the latter against the grippers, thus to prevent inadvertent longitudinal sliding of the rail.

It is a particular feature of the invention that the operation of both the grippers and the afore-said means for thrusting downward on the rail is achieved and coordinnated through a common actuating member constituting part of a linearly extensible and retractable power unit.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a novel linkage between the power source and the various operative parts for achieving a simultaneous equal and opposite angular movement of the grippers into operative supporting position beneath the rail head and a subsequent downward thrusting movement of the said thrusting means to urge the rail head against the grippers, the actions of the grippers and the thrusting means being in properly coordinated sequence and occurring at different stages of the extension of said extensible and retractable power source.

3,558,178 Patented Jan. 26, 1971 yCe Referring first to FIG. l of the drawings, it will be seen that the major working elements of the rail lifter are carried by an elongated rigid and normally horizontal beam 10. Preferably, the beam 10 and its associated working parts are covered by a removable sheet metal casing 12 shown in its removed position in FIG. 1. The downwardly opening bottom side of the casing 12 is adapted for reception of the beam and its associated parts, and the casing may be suitably secured to the beam as for instance by means of bolts or other fasteners 14. At the central portion the casing is provided with suitable eyelets 16, for the reception of hooks or cables through which the entire rail lifter may be lifted and handled by conventional cranes or other lifting and handling apparatus.

Carried by the beam 10 are relatively longitudinally spaced apart rail gripping means, each designated in its entirety by the referenec character 18. Each such gripping means comprises a pair of rail grippers 20-20, symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the rail by means of their vertical supporting shafts 22, each of which is rotatably supported through a bearing sleeve 24, fixedly secured to the side of the beam and preferably braced by suitable reinforcing plates or Webs 26. The said grippers 20--20` of each pair are carried at the projecting lower ends of their respective shafts 22 and project radially therefrom, the said grippers being position and moved symmetrically with respect to each other. In their withdrawn or rejected positions as shown in FIG. 1, the grippers 20 of each pair are retracted or withdrawn from beneath the beam or support 10- in relatively spaced apart relation. However, it will be understood that they are angularly movable to an operative position such as is illustrated in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings in which their free ends project toward each other and beneath the head H of a rail R on opposite sides of the rail web W, the rail R being of conventional construction of the type commonly used in railroads.

It is to be noted, of course, that the rail dogs or grippers 20 are spaced below the supporter beam 10 sufficiently to provide ample space between the beam and the grippers 20 for reception of the rail head H.

The grippers are actuated and retracted through angular movement imparted thereto by way of their rigid lever arms 28-28 respectively aixed to the upper ends of the shafts 22 of their respective grippers 20. These lever arms extend inwardly and across each other above the beam 10 and jointly constitute part of the mechanical linkage generally designated 30 for transmitting equal but opposite angular movement to the respective shafts 22 of each pair from a linearly extensible and retractable power means, here exemplified by the double acting hydraulic units 30. Each such unit 30 in the present preferred embodiment has its cylinder 32 xedly secured on the beam 10 so that its piston rod 34 is extended and retracted in a direction parallel to the major longitudinal axis of the beam and in a line extending mid-Way between the shafts 22 in a plane of symmetry between and parallel to said shafts.

Each piston rod 34 is operatively connected to the actuating arms 28-28 of its associated grippers 20120 by means of relatively spaced apart plates 36 and 38, respectively, welded or otherwise securely axed to the external end of the piston rod 34 and projecting in alignment therewith above and below the respective actuating -arms 28-28 and in turn pivotally connected to both said arms by common pivot pin 40, extending through lengthwise slots 42 in the respective arms 28. The arrangement is obviously such that simultaneous movement of the piston rods 34 in the direction of the length of the beam impart a simultaneous equal but opposite angular movement to the respective arms 28-28 of each pair and the grippers 20 connected thereto, the slots 42 permitting the lengthwise or radial displacement of the pivot pin 40 along each arm which occurs as a result of such angular movement of the arms.

For extending and retracting the respective units 30, each such unit is provided with conventional hydraulic lines 44 and 46, respectively, communicating with the opposite ends of its cylinder. It will be understood that in accordance with usual practice when it is desired to extend such a unit 30, pressurized hydraulic fluid will be admitted through its associated hydraulic line 44 on one side of its piston (not shown) Within the cylinder 32 and withdrawn or exhausted through the other hydraulic line 46 at the opposite end of its cylinder. Retraction of each piston rod conversely may be caused by supplying pressurized tiuid through the line 46 and exhausting it through the line 44. This may be done under the control of suitable valves in a conventional manner constituting no part of the present invention and therefore not illustrated.

It will be readily apparent that where the beam or support is placed over a rail R to receive the rail head H between the retracted or spread apart grippers -20` of each pair and the grippers are thereafter swung toward each other to operative position beneath the rail head H, they will provide rm support for lifting the rail. It is desirable, in addition, to provide means in combination with the rail grippers 18-18 for securing the rail against longitudinal sliding or displacement such as might occur in the event of tilting of the rail and beam 10 from a substantially horizontal position.

To achieve this function, there is provided adjacent each end of the beam 10 a thrust rod or plunger 48 which is guided on the beam for endwise vertical movement in the plane of symmetry common to the grippers 20-20 of each pair for downward thrusting engagement with the lrail head H of a rail R held between the grippers 20-20, all in the manner best shown in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings.

Where the beam 10 is of a hollow or tubular metal construction, asin the illustrated embodiment, each thrust rod 48 may be guided for longitudinal movement in and through a tubular sleeve bearing 50, secured to and extending through the beam 10 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.

For restricting the vertical movement of the thrust rod 48 to the desired operative range, there may be employed a bolt 52 extending through the rod with its ends projecting through and movable in vertical slots 54 on opposite sides of the sleeve bearing 50.

Prior to engagement of the rail lifter of the invention with a rail, the thrust rods 48 will normally be in their lower-most positions as indicated in broken lines in FIGS. 3 and 4 in which their respective bolts 52 are at the lower end of the slots 54. However, when the lifter is applied to a rail, the thrust rods 48 are raised by eng-agement with the rail head toward the full line positions illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. For then thrusting each rod 48 rmly downwardly into frictional holding engagement with the rail head, there are provided cooperating cam means on each thrust rod and the linkage of its associated grippers 20-20.

Thus in the preferred embodiment such cam means includes the wedge bar 56 carried by the respective piston rods 34 by way of the free ends of the plates 36 and 38. The upper end of the thrust rod or plunger 48 when in its raised position is in the path of movement of its associated wedge bar 56 so that a sloping cam surface 56 at the free end of the wedge bar will operatively engage a cooperating sloping cam surface 60 defining the upper end of the plunger of thrust rod 48 and will thereby urge the thrust rod downwardly into rm gripping engagement with the rail head H.

In the operation of the rail lifter herein shown and described, with the casing 12 securely assembled to the beam 10 and its associated components, the entire gripper structure may be raised by a suitable crane, having its lifting cables attached to the connections or eyelets 16 of the casing whereby to raise the entire device and lower it onto a rail to be lifted. When lowered onto the rail, it will be understood that the beam 10 will be positioned in vertical registry with and parallel to the rail so that the rail will be freely received between the respective grippers 20--20 of each pair, the grippers at that time being spread apart to the position shown in FIG. 1 to freely receive the rail head between them.

As the beam 10 is fully lowered onto the rail and the rail head is received between the respective pairs of grippers 20-20, the plungers or thrust rods 48, respectively, will be urged upwardly to their raised positions by engagement with the rail head.

Thereafter, hydraulic fluid is delivered to and exhausted from each cylinder 32 through its fluid lines 44 and 46, respectively, to extend or project the piston rods of the respective units, thereby acting through the pivots 40 to transmit a swinging or angular movement through the respective arms 28 and shafts 22 to urge the grippers 20 inwardly toward each other and beneath the rail head in operative gripping relation thereto. In the final stages of the movement of the grippers 20 to operative position beneath the rail head, the cam surfaces 58 and 60 of the wedge bars 56 and plungers 48, respectively, are inter-engaged and cooperative during the balance of the extension movement to thrust the plungers or thrust rods 48 downwardly into firm gripping engagement with the grippers or gripper jaws 20-20 so that the rail is vertically gripped between each such plunger or thrust rod 48 and its associated grippers 20--20 and thereby held rmly against longitudinal displacement even though the rail and the beam 10 are substantially tilted from a horizontal position.

After the rail lifter is thus operatively engaged with the rail, it may be employed to raise and transport the rail to a desired location through suitable actuation of the crane from which the rail lifter is suspended. When the rail is deposited in its desired position, the rail lifter may be disengaged from the rail by supplying pressurized fluid through the lines 46 and exhausting fluid through the lines 44 of the respective cylinders 32, thus disengaging the thrust rods or plungers 48 from the rail so that the rail is no longer thrust against the supporting grippers 20-20, following which continued withdrawal of the plungers 34 transmits swinging motion through the pivots 40 to the respective actuating arms 2-8 to move the grippers 20 angularly from beneath the rail head to their retracted positions. The rail lifter of the invention is then free to be completely removed from the rail for use elsewhere.

In this application I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention simply by way of illustration of the preferred Inode of practicing the invention, it being understood that obvious variations will occur to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a power actuated rail gripper, a rigid support; a pair of rail grippers pivotally connected to said support for angular movement in a common plane spaced from said support; said grippers being angularly movable about their pivotal connections from retracted positions in which they are relatively spaced apart for reception therebetween of the rail head of a rail to be gripped and operative positions in which they project beneath the rail head for supporting engagement therewith; actuating arms and means rigidly connecting the same to the grippers, said arms projecting radially with respect to said pivotal connections; linearly extensible and retractable power means interconnected between said support and said arms for transmitting angular movement through said arms to the grippers as the power means is extended and retracted; thrust means carried by said support for movement in a plane substantially midway between said grippers and normal to their said common plane of angular movement for downward thrusting engagement with a rail head supported on said grippers; and means for transmitting operative movement to said thrust means from said power means.

2. A rail lifter as defined in claim 1, in which said thrust means comprises a plunger mounted on said support for endwise movement in a plane substantially midway between said grippers and normally to their common plane of angular movement.

3. A rail lifter as defined in claim 2, in which said means for operating said thrust means comprises cooperating cam means on the said thrust means and said power means, respectively.

4. A power actuated rail gripper comprising: a rigid elongated horizontal beam; rail gripping means spaced apart longitudinally of the beam, each said gripping means comprising a pair of shafts supported on opposite sides of the beam for rotary movement about vertical axes and extending above and below the beam; rail grippers fixed to the lower ends of the respective shafts at a common level spaced below said beam, said grippers projecting radially from their respective shafts for swinging movement between an operative position wherein they project toward each other beneath the beam and a retracted position wherein they are relatively remotely spaced from each other; actuating arms lixed to the upper ends of the respective shafts; and linearly extensible and retractable power means guided on said beam for extension and retraction movement parallel to the length of the beam and medially between said shafts of each pair; said power means :being operatively connected to the respective pairs of arms for simultaneously swinging the said grippers of each pair toward and away from their operative positions, said arms of each pair grippers extending across each other above the beam and being provided with longitudinal slots, a pivot extending through said slots and operatively connected to said extensible and retractable power means for imparting simultaneous and opposite angular movement to the respective arms and their associated grippers.

5. A power actuated rail lifter as defined in claim 4, including thrust means supported on said beam for vertical downward thrusting movement against a rail supported between said pairs of gripping members; and means connecting said thrust means to said power means for actuation by the power means in coordinated relation with the actuation of the said grippers.

6. A power actuated rail gripper comprising: a rigid elongated horizontal beam; rail gripping means spaced apart longitudinally of the beam, each said gripping means comprising a pair of shafts supported on opposite sides of the beam for rotary movement about vertical axes and extending above and below the beam; rail grippers xed to the lower ends of the respective shafts at a common level spaced below said beam, said grippers projecting radially from their respective shafts for swinging movement between an operative position wherein they project toward each other beneath the beam and a retracted position wherein they are relatively remotely spaced from each other; actuating arms fixed to the upper ends of the respective shafts; and linearly extensible and retractable power means guided on said beam for extension and retraction movement parallel to the length of the beam and medially between said shafts of each pair; said power means being operatively connected to the respective pairs of arms for simultaneously swinging the said grippers of each pair toward and away from their operative positions, thrust rods guided for vertical movement on said beam for endwise downward thrusting engagement with a rail supported between said pairs of grippers; and cooperating cam means carried by said power means and said thrust rods for urging said rods downwardly responsive to extension of said power means.

7. A power actuated rail gripper as defined in claim 5, including means for restricting the thrust means to predetermined ranges of vertical movement.

8. A device as described in claim 7, including sleeve bearings for the respective thrust rods, said thrust rods having projections movable along slots in the respective sleeve bearings, whereby to restrict the range of movement of said thrust rods.

9. A power actuated rail lifter as deiined in claim 6, in which said cam means comprise sloping cam faces on the ends of the respective thrust rods in the paths of movement of said power means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,564,655 12/1925 Westbo 294-67(.2C) 1,767,525 6/1930 Holman 294-67(.2C) 1,833,545 ll/l93l Wehr 294-67 3,154,338 10/1964 Leach 294--88 3,208,789 9/1965 Barry 244-88 EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner D. D. WATTS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 294-67, 88 

